Plant-Based Versus Paleo: What’s the Diff?

It always interesting to me to consider what people think of when they use the phrase plant-based.

For some, it means vegan. For others, it means simply incorporating more veggies and fruit, as well as beans, legumes…anything that grew at some point, regardless of how much processing went into it.

If we stop and think about the word ‘based’, it becomes quite simple. To me, that would mean that the type of eating has the most of this particular type of food.

So, in that context, the Paleo diet is plant-based.

Why?

Because, when followed properly, the macro nutrient ratio is at 40- 45% carbohydrate, coming from mostly vegetables and some fruit and the remainder is divided equally between wild protein and natural fat.

As I’ve written many time before, there are plenty of new iterations of Paleo popping up out of the woodwork every day, some of which are far higher in fat (or the wrong fats; eating processed, sodium-laden bacon is not Paleo, let alone doing it often) or protein, but if we go straight to the source, the person who really brought the Paleo approach into daily vocabulary, Dr. Cordain, we can see what the real deal is.

As referenced in his books and on his site, the Paleo diet, again, is 40-45% carbohydrate.

If you’re vegan for ethical reasons, as I was, think about this: by not supporting the ranchers and farmers who operate on a smaller scale at a local level, raising their cattle, or game or whatever the case me, humanely, ethically and naturally, you’re actually not not making as much of a difference in terms of changing the type of meat we as a society will view as acceptable. The more support the smaller, local farmers have and the more demand for their product we create, can lead to a positive situation where demand for the inhumane, factory-farm Monsanto approach can begin to go down.